Why Not Both?
by cowgirlangel95
Summary: A week after the belief assignment, Farkle's mind is still a warbled mess over what he believes. He is a man of science, surely religion and science cannot mix, right? Meanwhile, Riley and Maya find out what prayer is really for. Two-shot. Please read author's notes. Warning: contains religious tones.
1. Chapter 1

_***Please read Author's Note!***_

 _ **A/N: Officially I'm still on my break, but I could not wait to post this at all. When I saw the episode, my mind flipped! They did such a good job at explaining things, but yet I feel that they could have gone deeper on a few topics (more specifically more into what St. Joan of Arc did, Riley and Maya's talk on praying, and what Farkle believes), so here I am to fill in the gaps. At some points, I'm not sure if Michael Jacobs knew how deep the topics that were mentioned at certain points can go. Quite a few were mentioned in the episode were in my Intellectual Journey class which is based on St. Bonaventure's book**_ **The Soul's Journey into God** _ **, and they're pretty deep. Deep as in mind bending stuff, and Jacobs only touched the surface (probably because it**_ **is** _ **geared towards a younger audience, but still)! I'm going to try and go deeper at a couple of parts that I felt should have been in the episode, so enjoy!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own GMW otherwise this would have happened.**_

 _ **Waring: Religious tones throughout the fic. If you don't like that, please just close out and don't flame me.**_

Farkle sat in Topanga's, trying to mull over what was going through his mind. It had only been a week since the belief assignment, and he wasn't really sure what he was experiencing at the moment. Scientists go off of facts; what is there in front of them, and what they could see. He couldn't really see how faith in a supernatural Being could work into that. Yet Farkle realized that there were some things in his life that he just took for granted without proof.

He sighed as he ran his hands through his hair. Yesterday, Farkle had asked Lucas for some help as to _how_ it was possible to believe in such things. Luckily for him, Lucas agreed and they were set to meet up that day. Lucas had asked for some time to do some research, because unlike Farkle, he couldn't keep everything in a certain section in his mind and be able to access it at will.

As if on cue, the bell hanging over the bakery door rang gently and Lucas entered with a notebook in hand.

"Find anything?" Farkle asked.

Lucas nodded as he handed the notebook over. "More than you might think, actually. Is there a reason why you're doing this, buddy?"

Farkle sighed as he thumbed through the pages. "I don't know – I've felt off ever since Mr. Matthews explained how my reasoning may not exactly be flawless. While yes I can't see certain things at every moment, they're proven to exist."

"True," Lucas began. "You may not be able to prove He exists, but you also _can't_ prove that He _doesn't_ exist. What I believe is that science allows us to figure out more of who God is."

Farkle raised an eyebrow. "Faith in God and science can go together? How can that work?"

Lucas smiled. "Just read the notebook. The universe is a huge puzzle of equations that were given to us to discover. Some things, for those that believe, are true. Sometimes there are no words to explain it because the head and the heart have a disconnect when it comes to language. Language of the mind is intellect and reason. Language of the heart is love. In order to understand the bigger picture, we have to try and think outside of ourselves – for lack of better wording, above ourselves. Science and faith don't have to be enemies."

The two of them were silent for a time before Lucas spoke again. "I hope this helps in some way. Now if you'll excuse me, I promised to help Riley with something," he explained as he headed to the door.

"Wait a minute," Farkle called out. "You're not going to help me solve this?"

Lucas bit his lip as he contemplated his words. "I can help guide you along, but the discovery has to come from within you. Whether or not you want to believe is totally up to you. If you need any help, feel free to contact me," he explained, and then headed out the door.

Farkle sat in the chair and stared at the notebook for quite some time. He didn't know how much time passed, but as the bakery became more crowded, Farkle decided to move to Central Park. If he was going to figure this out, he needed some peace and quiet.

He sat down on a bench and let out a sigh as his heart pounded against his chest. "Well," he muttered. "Here goes nothing…"

The first few things that were jotted down were a few minor points, but points none of the less he came to realize. For example, the first woman to earn a PhD in computer science in the United States was a Catholic nun – Mary Kenneth Keller. It shocked Farkle to see this, but the next fact made him wonder all the more. Georges Lemaitre, a Belgium priest, was the one who came up with the Big Bang Theory. He didn't realize that a priest had come up with the theory; he had assumed that it was just another scientist. Well Lemaitre _was_ a scientist, but Farkle didn't think the scientist was a man of faith.

The next section was scriptures that have been found in the Bible that science dictated as true today:

 _The Earth is a Sphere – Isaiah 40:22_

 _Innumerable Stars – Jeremiah 33:22_

 _Air has weight – Job 28:25_

 _Each star is different – 1 Corinthians 15:41_

 _Light moves – Job 38:19-20_

 _Free float of Earth in space – Job 26:7_

 _Wind blow in cyclones – Ecclesiastes 1:6_

 _Ocean floor contains deep valleys and mountains – 2 Samuel 22:16; Jonah 2:6_

 _Blood is the source of life and health – Leviticus 17:11_

 _Creation made of invisible elements – Hebrews 11:13 (atoms)_

 _Ocean contains springs – Job 38:16_

While he found it interesting that these facts were indeed found in the Bible, Farkle still wasn't entirely convinced that faith and science could mix. To him, they were still water and vinegar.

The next section in the notebook contained a single quote which helped to explain how science and religion could, in fact, mix:

" _Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power; religion gives man wisdom which is control. Science deals mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals. They are complementary." – Martin Luther King Jr._ Strength to Love _(1963)_

Farkle closed the notebook for a moment and thought about it. _Okay – I can see what Dr. King is saying… but why hasn't it changed the way I feel? I'm still just as confused._

He considered for a brief moment to keep the notebook closed and go do something else, but something inside his mind made him keep going. Farkle opened to the next section and began to read.

 _Professor: You are a Christian, aren't you, son?  
Student: Yes, sir  
Professor: So, you believe in GOD?  
Student: Absolutely, sir.  
Professor: Is GOD good?  
Student: Sure.  
Professor: Is GOD all powerful?  
Student: Yes.  
Professor: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to GOD to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But GOD didn't. How is GOD good then? Hmm?  
(Student was silent)  
Professor: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is GOD good?  
Student: Yes.  
Professor: Is Satan good?  
Student: No.  
Professor: Where does Satan come from?  
Student: From… GOD…  
Professor: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And GOD did make everything. Correct?  
Student: Yes.  
Professor: So who created evil?  
(Student did not answer)  
Professor: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?  
Student: Yes, sir.  
Professor: So, who created them?  
(Student had no answer)_

Farkle's heart rate increased as confusion spread through his mind. _Lucas, why did you put this in here? If anything this affirms what I believed before the assignment!_

 _Professor: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son, have you ever seen GOD?  
Student: No, sir.  
Professor: Tell us if you have ever heard your GOD?  
Student: No, sir.  
Professor: Have you ever felt your GOD, tasted your GOD, smelt your GOD? Have you ever had any sensory perception of GOD for that matter?  
Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.  
Professor: Yet you still believe in Him?  
Student: Yes.  
Professor: According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?  
Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.  
Professor: Yes, faith. And that is the problem science has.  
Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?  
Professor: Yes.  
Student: And is there such a thing as cold?  
Professor: Yes.  
Student: No, sir. There isn't  
Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.  
Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such thing as darkness?  
Professor: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?  
Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light. But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it is, well you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?_

Farkle's eyes widened. _Dang… that is a good point…_ he thought before he continued reading.

 _Professor: So what is the point you are making, young man?  
Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.  
Professor: Flawed? Can you explain how?  
Student: Sir, you are only working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good GOD and a bad GOD. You are viewing the concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing._

 _Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?  
Professor: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.  
Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?  
Professor: *shakes head with a smile, knowing where the argument was going*  
Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor. Are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist, but a preacher?  
(class was in uproar)  
Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?  
(class broke out into laughter)  
Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established Rules of Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?  
(room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable.)  
Professor: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.  
Student: That is it sir… Exactly! The link between man and GOD is FAITH. That is all that keeps things alive and moving._

 _~Student is said to be Einstein._

The notebook fell from his hands once his eyes had read the last word. _Einstein… EINSTEIN?! Einstein was of faith?! But isn't it proven that those who practice some sort of religion don't have as high an IQ? Well – I guess that theory just got blown out of the water!_

From what seemed to be out of nowhere to Farkle, an older man bent down, picked up the notebook, and handed it back to him. It took a moment for Farkle to register what was happening, but he slowly took the notebook from him.

"Thank you," Farkle said quietly as he observed him. He had longish brown hair which was graying, and a soft face with joy filled eyes.

"No problem, young man," the older man said as he sat down next to him. "Something in there frighten you?"

Farkle bobbed his head from side to side as admitted the discovery he had made. Eventually, Farkle ended up explaining the whole situation of what led him here: the assignment, his confusion, one of his friends helping him, and his mind hurting from all the information it was trying to make sense of.

"…I mean," Farkle continued, "What Einstein said was incredible, but it could be considered a weak analogy. Even though we may not be able to see our brain, there are images such as MRIs that prove that brains exist."

The older man let out a laugh. "While that may be true it can be argued that we do have proof that God exists. Eucharistic Miracles for example, where the bread and wine that turns into the Body and Blood of Christ, but usually keeps the image of bread and wine, _indeed_ turns into the flesh of a human heart and blood. Tests have been performed to see if it was human flesh and blood, without saying what had happened, and the test results came back positive."

Farkle was silent at the older man's words. While he wasn't able to explain how a simple piece of bread and a cup of wine could be turned into flesh and blood, now he couldn't see why that wouldn't be possible if God was watching over them. Farkle had heard of such stories, but he didn't really think anything of them.

"Look, whoever gave this notebook to you clearly wants to help you, and that person isn't expecting you to change automatically. Even people of faith have their doubts at some points."

Farkle raised an eyebrow and looked at him. "Really? Do they stick with it, though?"

"Most of them do. For some it's just a quick waiver, others fall away for huge chunks of time but find their way back. Then there are people who don't believe at first but come and find their faith. Do you know what's in common with all of them?"

Farkle shook his head and eagerly waited for what the older man was going to say next.

"It's not an easy journey for any of them. It's a lifelong journey. Not even the Saints had easy journeys."

The man's last statement confused him even more. "Then why are they Saints?"

The older man smiled, sending an unusual but welcoming warmth through Farkle's chest. "Because their faith was strong. St. Joan of Arc didn't denounce what she saw because she knew it was the voice of God. Even when she was faced with death. But who could blame her? Look what she did. She had the visions more than once, including other Saints, she had to convince the King to let her lead, she lead France to many victories, when she got captured by the English they looked for _any_ way to convict her because they didn't care about the French. St. Augustine would have been described in modern times as a partier until he finally realized that he hated who he was and needed to change; God gave him that. Pope St. John Paul II's entire family either died when he was young or was killed during World War II when the Nazis occupied Poland, but that didn't make his faith waiver. In fact, it was his father's death that made him seriously consider the priesthood."

Hearing these brief stories made Farkle wonder how such things were possible. But the answer soon came to him: faith. Some things are just true.

"Thanks for the chat," Farkle began as he stood up from the bench. "I really should be going."

The old man nodded and rose as well. "Aye, I should be going to. My mother worries if I head out without her knowledge," he said in a lightly teasing manner.

Farkle chuckled at the comment and wanted to say something about how old the man's mother was, but he didn't. He turned to leave, but he felt in his heart that he should thank the gentleman for what he had told him. Farkle turned back around, but the man was gone. This confused him greatly. No one could move that fast! As he turned and walked out of the park, Farkle wasn't exactly sure at what he believed in anymore, but he has a better understanding at how one can believe in that, even a man of science. Now, he wasn't totally against the idea of not seeing God but still believing He is still there for him. This though alone sends a warm feeling through his heart, similar to the one where he heard the older gentleman speak.

 _ **A/N: Hope you liked it. The fact that I could have gone deeper even still boggles my mind. I'm going to have one more chapter in this story focusing on Riley and Maya and praying. Keep an eye out for it! Not sure when it will be up; I'm hoping sometime in the near future! Until then, lovelies!**_

 _ **~Text about Einstein is from this pin: /pin/400890804308373335/**_


	2. Chapter 2

Riley and Maya walked down the street from Topanga's bakery, trying to figure out what they wanted to do for the rest of the day. The two of them wandered around Greenwich Village aimlessly as they bounced ideas off of each other, but none of suggested ideas sounded very appealing to either one of them. Soon, they came across a part of town they had visited nearly two months ago, and a familiar person was walking towards its gates.

"Hi, Sister Mary Beth!" Riley called out.

The nun stopped and smiled as she saw the two girls approaching her. "Hello Riley, Maya. How are you today on this fine day? More sure of themselves, I hope," she said, referencing the last time the two girls had been there.

Maya bobbed her head from side to side. "This one is, me on the other hand… things are a changin'."

"For the best, I hope."

"I'd like to hope so, and they seem to be so far," Maya replied.

Riley's face beamed as she listened to her best friend. "She started praying!" Riley announced with glee.

Sister Mary Beth smiled. "So, is He answering your prayers so far?"

Both Riley and Maya looked at each other and gave the other a smile. "He seems to be so far."

"That's wonderful to hear. Always remember that God is there to help you through whatever is in front of you."

The smile on Maya's face slowly disappeared as she listened to her. "Wait a second. Sister, what are you saying? I'm not sure I'm following."

"God is always listening to your prayers, no matter who they are for. They could be for you family, your friends, people who are suffering elsewhere, or for yourself," she explained.

Maya bit her lip. "But why would I bother God about me?" she asked. "And aren't you supposed to pray for others, Sister?"

Riley nodded in agreement. "Yeah… couldn't it be considered selfish to pray for yourself?" Riley added, thinking of the conversation she and Maya had in the bay window last week.

The nun lightly shook her head and smiled. "Have a seat, girls," she said as she gestured to the bench behind them. They all sat down with Riley and Maya on each end and Sister Mary Beth in between them. "Prayer is a wonderful thing. It alone has the power to bring us and the world closer to God. Now, why would you think that praying for yourself would be selfish? Or why would you think you would be bothering God by praying for yourself?"

Maya and Riley inwardly slumped. The tone that Sister Mary Beth was using was all too familiar – one that Mr. Matthews used all the time in his history class. Needless to say, neither of them spoke.

Mary Beth laughed gently. "It's alright if you don't know. There are many things to learn about faith in general; some questions we may not receive the answers to until we journey over to the next life. Anyway, one might think that you would be selfless in not praying for yourself, right?" Both Riley and Maya nodded. "Okay. On the surface it may seem like that, but in reality you're saying that you don't need help. We always need help getting through obstacles as simple as taking a test. Granted, praying for yourself is not always the easiest, especially when you've been told to put other's needs before your own. But trust me, that type of prayer is necessary."

"But surely God doesn't have time to listen to all of our prayers, right?" Maya asked. "I mean, I know some prayers don't always get answered."

"Quite the contrary, Maya," the nun explained. "You may think that God wouldn't have time to listen to every single prayer because, as humans, we cannot understand anything beyond our understanding of the Universe."

Both Riley's and Maya's eyes widened at this lone statement. "Whoa," they whispered in unison as they realized that no one _can_ understand anything outside our own physical world.

"God is always present," she continued. "In regards to prayers not getting answered, that can be a bit interesting. He could answer in several different variations of yes if He does not tell you no. The first variation is the direct one; you know when it happens and it happened the way you expected it to. The next may be a yes, but it may not happen the way you were hoping. Why is this? Because God knows what is best for us at this present moment. That answer could help set up something later on in life. The final one is when He says yes, but tells you to wait because now is not the time for that to happen."

The two teens were silent for a while before Riley decided to ask, "What if we don't know what we want to say?"

Sister Mary Beth mulled over her answer before she responded. "Ask him to listen to your heart, for you can't find the words. He's the best listener; He can make out the quietest prayer, even if it's one that you can't hear."

Maya bit her lip. "Looks like we still got a lot to learn."

"Everyone does," the nun explained. "That's part of having faith. We're not going to have all the answers."

Riley stood up and faced Sister Mary Beth. "Thank you, Sister for what you've told us."

"Yeah," Maya agreed. "Thanks."

"It was no trouble at all," she smiled. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go to chapel. Have a good day, and God bless you both."

"You, too," the two teens said as they watched Sister Mary Beth stand and head into the gates of the convent.

OoOoO

Maya sat on her bed and thought about the conversation that she and Riley had with Sister Mary Beth as she gazed at the moon outside her window. It was mind boggling to think about what she had said about praying for yourself. A part of Maya's mind still thought it was a bit selfish or greedy to do so, but then again why shouldn't she pray for herself? She was the only one on this earth that knew what was going on in her life. Not even Riley knew all the struggles she faced.

She shifted her focus to inside her room and let out a sigh. Maya knew what she had to do, and she wanted to do it, but she was still scared to do it. _I wonder if many people feel the same way_ , she pondered briefly.

Finally, she let out her breath and looked towards a cluster of stars that poked through the dark nighttime sky.

 _God – I'm sorry if I'm not the greatest at this, and I'm sorry for not coming to You earlier. But… can you help me throughout the day? Help me to realize that You're there for me? Make sure Riley keeps me in line?_

She bit her lip as she tried to think of what else to say, but no words came to her, except what Sister Mary Beth told her.

 _God, please listen to my heart, I cannot find the words._

 _ **A/N: Let me know what you guys thought of it! Good luck on the rest of the semester, and I shall see you guys soon. ~cowgirlangel95**_


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